Starlight
by Catazar
Summary: Oneshot. Draco Malfoy reaches out to Harry Potter at a Ministry of Magic party at Malfoy Manor in an attempt to possibly form a friendship.


The Ministry of Magic employees are all gathered at Malfoy Manor to attend yet another Ministry party. The Golden Trio is being stopped every few feet to be greeted by other guests as they attempt to make their way further into the house. One of the female employees distracts them with talk of how the anniversary of Sirius Black's death is coming up soon. Harry Potter is so saddened by this reminder that he doesn't even notice the pale blond walking up behind him, listening in on the conversation. Draco Malfoy cuts into the small group, convincing the woman to mingle with the other guests. The old school rivals turn to face each other.

"Hello, Potter," the blond greets Harry, holding out his hand to him. All of the other guest look on at the interaction with curiosity, whispering little comments and questions to each other as they await Harry's response impatiently.

"Nice to see you again, Malfoy," Harry replies, shaking the hand of his former nemesis. The two young men watch each other for a long moment, trying desperately to ignore all of the stares and whispers of the onlookers surrounding them. Since the war, they have only ever seen each other in passing. Harry finds himself pleasantly surprised that the man in front of him would be so willing to be the one to take the first step toward reconciliation. Stories of their childhood rivalry have been the complete opposite of a secret to the wizarding world for many years. Draco grows uncomfortable with all of the observation and decides to break the silence first and get away from all of the curious eyes and ears.

"May I have a word?" Draco asks, maintaining perfect eye contact with Harry and ignoring the suspicious looks from the red head standing only a foot away. "I want to show you something."

"Um, alright. I'll be back you guys," Harry tells Ron and Hermione before following Draco out of the room. As they make their exit, the room erupts into chatter. Harry follows Draco through the emptiness toward the back of the house. "Malfoy, where are we going?"

"The Manor Garden," he answers, leading Harry outside into the night. The area is completely filled with tall, extraordinarily shaped bushes, vines covered pillars and statues, many different species of plants and flower both magical and muggle, beautiful pathways with stone benches along the sides, and multiple massive fountains of many different shapes and designs. The moonlight is the only thing lighting the pathway as they walk further back into the garden, the small stones making crunching noises underneath their feet. The soothing sound of the water from the fountains fills the air around them.

"What's this about, Malfoy?"

"We keep a telescope out here." The boys both approach a large, white telescope in a large open area at the end of the pathway set up nearby an elegant fountain. The fountain looks to be a large dragon wrapped around a pillar, water spilling out of its mouth and into the pool below. Draco looks into the telescope, searching the night sky. Once he finds what he is looking for, he zooms in and then turns to face his only company. "My mother used to tell me this story that has been told in her family for many years. She said that many years ago, people believed that people who were named after stars, constellations, or galaxies would live on forever. Not literally, of course. They believed that when that person died, they would live on in the stars that they were named after. It was also rumoured that the better person they had been, the brighter the star would then become."

"Do you believe that? I mean, do you think that you will live on in the constellation, Draco, after you die?" His green eyes stare deeply into his acquaintance's grey ones as he waits for an answer.

"I'm not sure. I suppose it's a nice idea. It's comforting, I guess, to believe that something so beautiful and larger than life awaits for me after I die. To be a part of those stars would be an honour. I'm not so sure that I believe in it, but I would like to."

"Well, it's a very nice story, Malfoy, but what's it got to do with me?"

"Look into the telescope," Draco instructs. Harry steps forward, his features contorted into a confused expression, and looks into the eyepiece of the telescope. There are a few stars shining in the view of the telescope's focus, with one single star being significantly brighter than all the others. That single star gives off a pure white light, shimmering brightly in the darkness surrounding it. Harry stares at the star, feeling Draco's presence directly behind him. His breath is warm in the cold night air as he speaks, "Do you see that _really_ bright star right in the middle there?"

"Yeah," Harry confirms, still staring in awe at the powerful beauty of the star above.

"That's the brightest star in our skies."

"I suppose your family would believe that the person named after that star was an incredible person in their lifetime."

"From what I've heard, he was well deserving of that star. It's so bright that anyone who knew him can look up at that star every single night and know that he's looking down on them through it. No doubt in my mind that he would be immensely proud of the ones he is looking down upon."

"So, what's the star called?"

"Sirius."


End file.
